Queens Italians Simmer Over Summer

The streets of Queens were hot and dangerous in 1977 when the "Son of Sam" cruised the borough looking for young victims.
Now 22 years later, the psychopath’s killing spree has been turned into a Spike Lee film, "Summer of Sam." But the film is raising the hackles of Italian-Americans throughout the borough.
Diego A. Lodico, president of Bella Italia Mia, Inc., of Maspeth, an organization that represents borough Italian-Americans, said his ethnic group "is portrayed in the lowest possible light," in the film currently on view throughout Queens.
Lodico said he was dismayed by the use of derogatory epithets such as "Dago, Guido and Wops" that punctuated Lee’s film.
Lee has been criticized before for offending Italian-Americans, notably in his film, "Do The Right Thing," a production in which tensions between the Italian-Americans and the blacks of Bedford-Stuyvesant erupt in murderous emotions.
"Perhaps if the producers knew the background of the would ‘wop’ they may not have used it at all," Lodico said. "Unfortunately as it was used, this language perpetuated the defamation of Italian-Americans.
The film, based on the "Son of Sam" killings, stars two Queens actors, John Leguizamo and Adrien Brody. They play threatening Italian-American figures in a story of friendship and betrayal set against the background of a changing city.
Lodico found the film offensive:
"The actual story of the ‘Son of Sam" murders was an unfortunate, true tragic drama," he said. "However, the true story was used only as a commercial backdrop to promote a theme, which I believe, was to portray the lowest form of music, pornography and to portray an ethnic group, such as Italians, in the worst possible way."
Lodico, whose organization is devoted to championing Italian-Americans in Queens, called upon Hollywood to dispense with scurrilous attacks on ethnic groups.
"The story line of the Spike Lee film was without substance and was offensive to the Italian community," he said. "But most of all it was offensive to the families whose children were involved in this demonic tragedy."
Lodico also criticized the film for "the commercial promotion of this nauseous and fragmented film."
State Senator Serphin Maltese of Glendale called the film "violently anti-Italian and lacking in artistry."
Maltese, a former president of the Italian-American Legislators, said that the parish priest at St. Benedict’s Church in The Bronx, where the film was shot, was lied to by Spike Lee.
"Lee told him that the film would accurately portray the neighborhood," Maltese said. "Instead he portrayed the locals as buffoons."
He said that the "worst kind of bigotry" runs through the film.
Assemblyman Anthony S. Seminerio, Democrat of Richmond Hill, also attacked Spike Lee’s film.
"People who like Spike Lee live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones," he said. "I wouldn’t spend three cents to see his film."
City Councilman Alfonso C. Stabile of Ozone Park also had plenty to say about "Summer of Sam."
"It’s a disgrace," he said. "It make us look like pigs." Enough is enough. It’s time for Italian-Americans to get off their #@* and write their legislators."
Stabile said he’s tired of seeing the media beat up on Italian-Americans.
"This Italian-bashing has got to stop," he concluded.
In the past the Anti-Defamation League has expressed disappointment that Lee "has employed the same kind of tactics that he supposedly deplored."
It called "Summer of Sam," a phantasmagoria of Italo-America, not likely to win friends in Italian-American neighborhoods."
Lee has said that the "film is not just about Son of Sam. Yes, Son of Sam is a large part of it – we’re not trying to duck that – but it’s not everything. It’s about the summer of 1977 in New York."
"Summer of Sam" offers a snapshot of New York during one stressful summer. And 22 years later stress levels among Queens Italian-Americans are running quite high once again.